Thursday, September 8, 2011

A new report released today has shown that marijuana use is on the rise and methamphetamine use is on the decline, according to the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).The results are not all that surprising considering that home grown marijuana is on the rise while meth labs have been outsourced to Mexico making it a lot harder for a lot of people to acquire their meth.

In 2010, same as 2009, 8.7 percent of Americans said they regularly use illegal drugs recreationally, up from 2008 rate of 8 percent.

17.4 million people regularly use marijuana.

In 2007, 14.4 million Americans said they used marijuana.

An estimated 6.9 percent of those surveyed said they use marijuana regularly, compared with 5.8 percent in 2007.

7.4 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds, said they had used marijuana in the previous month in 2010, about the same as 2009.

Among 18- to 25-year-olds, 18.5 percent said they used marijuana in 2010, up from 16.5 percent in 2008.

The number of people who said they used methamphetamine in the past month dropped from 731,000 in 2006 to 353,000 in 2010.

People who used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons stayed at 2.7 percent between 2009 and 2010.

In the last three years 3 million more people started using marijuana regularly, testament to the growing number of states allowing medical marijuana usage. In a news release issued by SAMHSA, Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske said, “Emerging research reveals potential links between state laws permitting access to smoked medical marijuana and higher rates of marijuana use.” 16 states now allowing medical marijuana and there will definitely be more in the near future as social stigmas continue to diminish. It is great to see the number of meth users per month cut in half in the last 4 years - a good sign regarding the meth epidemic that has ravaged America.